Our research focuses on an approach to cultural identity through food practices. As anthropology and ethnology prove, food contributes to the cultural definition of humanity. Food has an important function of cultural mediation, representing a code for the expression of cultural identity. The images comprising the food code form part of the dialectic identity-alterity. On the one hand, they express a look at tradition, towards identification with the group of belonging. On the other hand, the food practices express a differentiation with respect to the signs of the alterity. Some elements concerning food and food practices are included in UNESCO …

Tattooing is an art form that has been used for thousands of years everywhere around the world. Mummies dated as far back as the 3rd and the 4th centuries have been found with tattoos on their arms, legs and backs – including the women. In Caesarian myths for example, Bretons were described as being tattooed. Judged to be a pagan ritual, tattooing was ended around the 7th century on religious grounds, thus attributing for the first time a negative connotation. It was only during the fourteenth century that the tattoo re-emerged on the European continent, courtesy of James Cook’s explorations. …

For occidental cultures, scientific medicine has become, socially and symbolically, famous and renowned. The discipline may be founded on rationality; it also embodies a strong mythical dimension, extensively seen in publicity, literature and arts. According to us, the attention given to technical and scientific (technoscientific) imaginary is one of the major trends characterizing occidental culture. In particular, the transformations to the human body, made easy by consistently evolving techniques, are widely represented by contemporary literature. Nevertheless, these modern representations of medical (surgical) operations refer to cultural and mythical legacy. In this paper, we aim at identifying a part of this …

Gender identity is seen as a personal perception of oneself as male or female. This definition is closely related to the concept of gender role, defined as the sum of external manifestations of personality that reflect gender identity. Gender identity is self-identified as a result of environmental factors. This self-identification has been the subject of fiction writers for a long period of time. Katherine Mansfield, one of the prominent modernist writers of short fiction, produced short stories that provide an accessible exploration of identity and gender as contemporary concerns in everyday life and as key concepts in social sciences. Her own …

Francesca Woodman’s work is mainly constituted of claimed self-portraits, but also other photos which let appear a faceless body, cut by the picture’s frame or simply hidden by an object. This glance shift could debate Emmanuel Lévinas’s theory of the face epiphany, nevertheless, even when the face doesn’t reveal itself a transcendence takes place. Self-portrait is put in balance in Francesca’s Woodman’s artworks, as her photos let appear an identity under construction, which develops according to the plastic concerns of the artist and her interferences with artistic circles. It is a character in fragmentation, a non-entity (Chris Townsend) appearing as …

In intercultural communication, the dichotomy ‘self’/the ‘other’ is vital in building identity. As a rule, a people’s identity has been viewed by other peoples through the eyes of their own identity. According to Bassnett,[1] in the encounter with the ‘other’, feelings such as denial, defense, minimization, acceptance or integration may arise. In our paper, we understand the word “minimization” as “marginalization.” These stages, as Bassnett name them, often occur in both the process of translation and the cultural studies, being also perceived as mediums in intercultural communication. [1] Bassnett-McGuire, Susan, Translation Studies,New York, Routledge, 1991.

The Eastern-European cultural space registers an acute and deliberate separation from the communist political system, which leads to a conscious quest for a self lead by the literatures that are reborn after the mechanism of ideological oppression disappeared. The result is a permanent re-definition of the national cultural positions with reference to the European centre, joined by a revision of aesthetic criteria that allow peripheral cultural ‘voices’ to interact on the Western scene. The stated aim is for ‘marginal literature’ to actively participate to the European circulation of cultural production, which entails the necessity of invoking studies focused on European …

Our paper aims at outlining the two main conceptions of childhood in the 19th century and at identifying the way in which these two conceptions manifested themselves in the literary discourse – which is a discourse of marginality – of 19th-century English writers such as Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy. The paper’s secondary aim is to challenge readers into considering how much of the views upon childhood have changed, whether we may look back to older perspectives upon childhood and education, and upon children generally

The present paper examines Naipaul’s representation of postcolonial border crossings in his thinly disguised literary autobiography, The Enigma of Arrival. The analysis focuses on the dynamics of cultural dislocation and relocation, on the exchanges and reversals at work in the process of the migrant’s appropriation of the centre, which Naipaul figures as a symbolic colonization in reverse, through which the cultural disseminations of the Empire return to their point of departure, to the now hybridized centre of a multicultural society. The key aspects of these intercultural renegotiations bridging the centre and the margin concern the redefinition of inherited concepts of difference, …

Nowadays, identity is continually changing. In order to assume a valid social identity, an individual needs the others’ recognition. In this case, modernity involves targeting the others. The individual is able to build and/or rebuild his identity depending on the opportunities life offers to him and which he chooses deliberately. He does not know for sure whether he has made the right decision but he has to discover on his own, the ‘true’ identity that suits him. From a postmodernist point of view, identity becomes less stable and more fragile. Postmodernist identity builds itself by assuming some roles and images. …

The paper aims at analysing the evolution in the public space of three Romanian writers: Cristian Tudor Popescu, Stelian Tănase and Mircea Dinescu. There will be highlighted the liberties and compulsions involved by the adhering to a space open to a varied and unpredictable public, and also the mutual influences of the literary work and press production (newspaper article or TV talk-show), interests which interfere in a propitious way. The three writers go beyond the well outlined boundaries of literature, anchoring in a public space using mass-media, thus vacillating between the two hypostasis they are constantly identifying with.

Identities in the Balkans have been formed within the context of different cultural, linguistic, religious and written traditions. Their creation was influenced by political projects such as: Pan-Slavism, Slavophilism, Illyrianism, Uniatism, and the Balkan Federation, which had both united and divided the peoples of the Balkans. Apart from various influences, identities were closely related to religion and language as well. A study of the construction and dynamic development of Macedonian identity beginning from ancient history, the medieval period, through the abolition of the Ohrid Archbishopric, its division in 1913, and the aftermath of the Second World War indicates the features …

Whether we like it or not, we have to admit that the second half of the 19th century in Romanian culture and society is characterized by frequent anti-Semite attitudes. Mihai Eminescu’s activity as journalist at “Curierul de Iaşi” makes no exception. From his first article in this newspaper, Eminescu proves to be a competent journalist, fighting for the only “positive social class”, peasantry. His strong belief was that all the others benefit from the work of the peasants. That is why he frequently attacks politicians, lawyers, merchants, public officers, journalists or teachers, blaming them for wasting peasants’ hard work. As …

When discussing the literary productions of Mexican-American authors, the concept of identity seems to be among the first issues to arise. Given the complex nature of the experience in the borderlands, the quest for self-definition always implies a reference to otherness, may it be white/American, Indian or male/female. My paper aims at analyzing the concept of identity as reflected in Chicano/a literature[1], emphasizing the dualities authors confront, as a result of being ‘too queer’ for ‘the other’. Furthermore, it purports to offer an account of the extent to which identity in the borderlands is performed, rather than being inscribed in …

Departing from the interdisciplinary character of communication, this paper attempts to identify its epistemological identity in the public space and to analyse the defining features of this type of communication. Many experts in the field consider the epistemological status of communication to be at the centre of culture, knowledge and social behaviour. From this perspective, communication studies imply an inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary approach, since we cannot restrict a field with such wide application within strictly defined scientific margins. Within the typology of features that allow us to differentiate communication in the public space from other types,we find its contextual …

The present study aims to explore how two college freshmen inThailandnegotiate their space in an EFL classroom as both of them are from different provinces so that they face linguistic and cultural barriers and thus are labelled as “others.” The ethnographic approach based upon participant observation and a series of interviews shows how two students become aware of their own cultural background which leads them to take different approaches in order to accommodate a new challenge: one actively gets involved in a local culture while the other holds on to his own to maintain his cultural upbringing.

The aim of this paper is to try to support the idea that past plays an esential role in the process of interpretation of a present utterance/text. Past takes the form of hypotheses, prejudices, prejudgments, ideologies, preferences, etc., stored in the mind of the interpreter, which shape her/his psychological identity. Identity can only come from the past. One’s psychological identity is the present situation of her/his stored past. It seems that in the process of interpretation one’s present self confronts one’s past self which has become the otherness of the present self. The process of interpretation is a fusion between …

In 1913, the region known asMacedoniawas divided in three parts between theKingdomofSerbs, Croats and Slovenes,BulgariaandGreece. The current situation is as follows: the official language in theRepublicofMacedoniais Macedonian, but in certain regions in which the majority population is Albanian, the Macedonian language loses its primacy; inBulgaria, the Macedonian language is considered only as a dialect of the Bulgarian language and inGreeceit is not even recognized as Macedonian, but as a form of a Slavic dialect and it has been the cause of reprisals in the past 100 years. Therefore, the status of the Macedonian language in theRepublicofMacedonia, the status of Macedonian …

The influence of the English language upon other languages is a world-wide phenomenon. The Romanian language (along with other European languages) seems to experience an exagerated growing tendency of using English words in varied fields of activity. If in the case of economics, informatics or sport the use of anglicisms is justified by the neccesity of referring to new extralingustic realities, which do not have a meaningful translation in Romanian, the situation changes in the case of media, where the use of English words has truly become a fashion. The present paper tries to analyse the manner in which the …

In pro-life discourse arguers strategically use arguments from consequence in order to make the audience aware of the gravity of abortion by pointing out the dire consequences of this deed. Using the pragma-dialectical critical questions (van Eemeren and Grootendorst 1992, 2004), I will test the dialectical soundness of the causal argumentation put forward by pro-lifers in various argumentative texts. The examination of these texts reveals that the death of the aborting mother, different forms of punishment for the rest of the family, for doctors, pharmacists and for whoever else might take part in an abortion directly or indirectly are among …

Taking into consideration the social status and roles individuals play in daily existence, the paper is an empirical study foregrounding the exploration of commonplace similes, in order to find out how projections of job identity are offered by them. Findings are then “put to test,” as an example of direct perception of reality, through the answers of a number of 50 informants.

The main conundrum discussed in this article is Maria Pawlikowska- Jasnorzewska’s definition of the identity of poetic creativity in exile. The act of selfdetermination is understood as a dynamic process, open to constant change and confrontation. In a state of exile, which is recognized as one of loss and coercion, confrontation with an alien cultural space conveys the demand to remain a stranger. Memory, for an exile, is a guarantee of cultural quality and allows the exile to challenge basic values and to seek protection, which provides a sense of and ensures continuity. In addition, images deposited in the memory …

The writings of Caragiale, although published more than 100 years ago, outline social, cultural and political realities applicable even today. Current critical reviews strengthen the idea that the classical writing of Caragiale shows both the strategies of articulating the journalistic texts, largely similar to those used for writing the literary texts, and the correct understanding of the socio-political and economic situation ofRomaniain the nineteenth century. This was completed by the anticipation of future events and states of affairs. This paper aims to examine, from this point of view, the size of Caragiale’s representativeness of journalistic writing for Romanian culture, as …

In the age of globalization, recognizing and preserving identity is essential, especially with translation as mediator between cultures. The task of the translator remains as difficult as ever in the face of translating foreign, often untranslatable concepts and structures. This paper takes a closer look at the translation of Ion Creangă’s Amintiri din copilărie, produced by Ana Cartianu and R.C. Johnston in 1978. Such an enterprise becomes problematic given the abundance in terms associated with the life and customs of Romania’s countryside in the 19th century, making it all the more complicated to create a clear cut image of Creangă’s …

The present paper proposes – using the main scientific sources – to establish the way in which Romanians have become aware of their own identity. Even if the 19th century historians seemed to have agreed upon the present matter, in fact, the concept of Romanian identity has not been revealed yet, or accepted. This very discrepancy between ethnical realities and the Romanian cultural identity construct is in fact the core of our study.

This article analyses the meanings of the concept of the nation in the nineteenth-century Transylvania. The theories of the nation were elaborated in several stages. This process attested the dynamism of a concept that changed during that period, and became increasingly intricate and complex. We consider as a starting point Simion Bărnuţiu’s Speech from Blaj, a moment from which, at the theoretical level, the nation received its modern meaning. In the next stage, the theory of Vasile Maniu mainly exploits the cultural element and the Latinity, by becoming increasingly complex and modern. The theory of A. C. Popovici brings paradigmatic …

This paper investigates the discursive ways in which Sylvia Plath’s artistic identity is constructed in some of her most representative poems. Our analysis focuses on the difficult relationship this poetic “I” establishes with the otherness of language and with the elusive “something else” beyond language that is only felt and never defined sufficiently. Leon Wieseltier’s ideas on identity constitute a theoretical basis for the demonstration that Plath’s “I” becomes a signifier/axe that alienates/splits the subject not only from the words themselves, but also from what is, but cannot be spoken

The paper attempts to approach the sign of the “prison“ from a semiotic point of view in order to show the way in which a person/character’s identity is influenced throughout a process of becoming taking place within certain spaces

In order to approach the problem of identity in relation to the house and draw the most pertinent conclusions, it is important that we regard the house not only as a passive object to be observed, built, owned, bought, demolished or refurnished, but also as an active subject imposing its rules and dominant atmosphere upon its inhabitants. The novels that will provide textual support for the theoretical part are Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist.

Spirit with broad cultural interests, with a huge information about such domains like: literature, philosophy, esthetics, comparative literature, Alexandru Dima was always concerned about “Romanian phenomenon”, seen both in its entirety, as well as its specific identity. This man of culture has shown concern for spiritual, artistic and literary identity, of a society, which, after the First World War, tried to rebuild a new path. The future society was seen by him as belonging to “society of tomorrow”, which is just the young generation, educated, with concern for aesthetics, philosophy and literature and thinking, trying to build the future and …

The paper aims at identifying the main characteristics of the educational system in Victorian England with a view to deciphering its effects upon the human being. The 19th century English school will be analyzed as an educational institution whose purpose is that of shaping human minds, but also as a social, political tool intended to inculcate certain beliefs and stereotypical judgements. The markers of the 19th century educational discourse will be illustrated through fragments taken from 19th century English novels, particularly those written by Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters.

Values and valuation are perceived to be discursive phenomena realised both on the level of the grammatical structure as well as on the level of lexical selection. Therefore, values and valuation are assumed to be present in every linguistic expression. Hence, it seems possible to apply investigative methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in their study, as it is the CDA which views discourse as a collection of socially constructed values. The focus of the current paper is on the study of just one aspect that CDA investigates, namely that of values and valuation as markers of the national identity. …

The narrator in a text is the organizing other. Interpreting the narrator is therefore articulating an aspect of one’s identity. If an interpreter perceives a textual situation as non-mediated by a narrator, she perceives the situation as either objectively there, or as entirely a construct of her subjectivity, the modernistic split. In this paper, an argument is developed that the dominant narrative structures in our world of moving pictures show a strong iconic dominancy. This dominancy seduces the interpreter to neglect the indexical and symbolic in her interpretation, that is to neglect the relation with her experience and socialization, which …

On the problem of identity one can read in numerous works of psychologists, sociologists, linguists, and philosophers. Quite safely, then, it can be stated that identity is talked about in multifarious terms that are to a lesser or greater extent complementary or contradictory. Having accepted the idea that what spurs the discourse in humanities is the versatility of perspectives, rather than the search for truth in the classical understanding, the authors would like to propose still another way of talking about the sense of identity – a way whose conceptual framework will be a merger of Richard Rorty’s notion of …

Harold Pinter’s realistic depiction of characters’ relationships especially through their gestures, their interaction on the stage and their use of language is what made of him a staple figure of the Theatre of the Absurd. The bringing on the stage of slices of real life, the characters’ struggle for the true meaning of their existence, the reconstruction of original London speech as well as the creation of another type of language which exists beyond words are major issues which give form and identity to the new type of drama of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. The identification of the …

Values and valuation are perceived to be discursive phenomena realised both on the level of the grammatical structure as well as on the level of lexical selection. Therefore, values and valuation are assumed to be present in every linguistic expression. Hence, it seems possible to apply investigative methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in their study, as it is the CDA which views discourse as a collection of socially constructed values. The focus of the current paper is on the study of just one aspect that CDA investigates, namely that of values and valuation as markers of the national identity. …

The narrator in a text is the organizing other. Interpreting the narrator is therefore articulating an aspect of one’s identity. If an interpreter perceives a textual situation as non-mediated by a narrator, she perceives the situation as either objectively there, or as entirely a construct of her subjectivity, the modernistic split. In this paper, an argument is developed that the dominant narrative structures in our world of moving pictures show a strong iconic dominancy. This dominancy seduces the interpreter to neglect the indexical and symbolic in her interpretation, that is to neglect the relation with her experience and socialization, which …

On the problem of identity one can read in numerous works of psychologists, sociologists, linguists, and philosophers. Quite safely, then, it can be stated that identity is talked about in multifarious terms that are to a lesser or greater extent complementary or contradictory. Having accepted the idea that what spurs the discourse in humanities is the versatility of perspectives, rather than the search for truth in the classical understanding, the authors would like to propose still another way of talking about the sense of identity – a way whose conceptual framework will be a merger of Richard Rorty’s notion of …

Language and identity are the most important parts of social interaction, which have become undoubtedly fused. While language in itself is reflective of identity, the true constraints that identity imposes on language usage come from within, not from without. Even if many people say that the environment plays a heavy role in the determination of language usage and in the development of personal or group identity, these constraints have been consciously chosen to be shouldered. Even in cases of coercion by pressure for group conformity, the burden again falls on the individual (as group membership in most cases may be …